The Daredevil eBook

CHAPTER XX

“YOU ARE—­MYSELF!”

And then in my wickedness I began to commit a desecration
on the memory of my beautiful and honored Grandmamma
Carruthers. I walked to that glass case in which
reposed that gown of the beautiful flowered silk and
took it therefrom and laid it upon a chair above the
soiled riding breeches of corduroy I had so lately
discarded. I opened the carved wooden box on
the table underneath and took from it the silver slippers
and the stockings of silk, also the lace fan and the
silver band for the hair. Thereupon I walked
to my mirror and commenced to make a toilet of great
care but of a great rapidity.

My first action was to take down that lovelock and
with the oil of roses to lay it in its accustomed
place upon my cheek, which burned with a beautiful
rose of shame and at the same moment with some other
emotion that I did not understand; which emotion also
made my eyes as bright as the night stars out in that
Camp Heaven. The silver band held closely the
rest of my mop and gave it the appearance of the very
close coiffure which is the fashion of this day, and
one very sweet young rose I put into it just above
the curl with an effect of great and wicked beauty.

The coiffure having been accomplished, the rest of
the toilet, from the slippers of the cloth of silver
to the edge of fine old lace, now the color of rich
cream, that rested upon the arch of my bare white
breast was only a matter of a few moments, and then
I stood away from my mirror and beheld myself therein.

“You are as beautiful as you are wicked, Roberta,
Marquise of Grez and Bye, but you go to your death
in a manner befitting a grande dame of your
ancient house of France, whose daughters once showed
the rabble how to approach a guillotine, costumed in
magnificence. Descend for that cold knife to
your heart!” And so speaking, I picked up my
fan and made my way through the hall to the halfway
of the wide steps. At that point a commotion
occurred.

“Lordee! It’s the old lady come to
ha’nt!” exclaimed my good Bonbon and with
a groan he fled into the darkness in the back regions
of the house.

And it happened that his loud cry brought a response
which came to me before I was quite in readiness for
it. As I reached the last step of the wide staircase,
under the bright light I raised my eyes, and behold,
the Gouverneur Faulkner to whom I had descended for
the purpose of mortal combat, stood before me!

And was it that cruel and wicked and cold Gouverneur
Faulkner who was to scourge me and keep me in the
house of my Uncle, the General Robert, for a dishonor?
It was not. Before me stood a tall man who was
of a great paleness and a terrible fatigue also, covered
with the dust of a long, hard ride, with eyes that
were full of a fear, who stood and looked at me with
not one word of any kind.